I'm so happy, I'm so happy!

What a great day! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and it is 65 degrees out (from 30 earlier this weekend!). Better yet though, I am on my way to a major project I have been planning! I won't be revealing ALL my secrets just now. But my master plan (bwahahaha!) has been to add a fireplace to my sunroom. We have our kitchen table in our sunroom (which is attached to our kitchen) and I use the eat-in in space next to the kitchen for a sitting area.
Here is our sunroom (Oh yes my friends, that IS a orange room! I love it!):

And here is our eat-in area turned sunroom:

That is the area where the table is meant to go. That is the end of the kitchen island there at the bottom left of the photo. (Wow, do I need to get some photography lessons!) I actually switched the areas one year just for winter since that sunroom are gets so cold. Then I found everyone used the new "sitting area" way more than they did when it was in the actual sunroom. PLUS I had lots of company now when I was cooking! The hubs or kids would lounge on the couch while I prepared meals. I love that!

But that sunroom is still cold when we are eating dinner in the winter. I'm sure it does not bother my hot-blooded boys but I freeze in there! See how there are all those big windows? And we get a LOT of wind on that end of the house. So I decided that I wanted to add a electric fireplace in there. But I did not want it to look cheesy! I saw a couple prefab ones that were "OK" but just not what I was looking for. So I have been keeping my eye out for the a great old mantle. And here it is! I found this at The Empty Nest when I went to talk to Janet about my Milk Paint problem last week. I had already lost out on one mantle I'd had my eye on at the Lucketts Store. Now I know, if I go home and can't stop thinking about it, I need to JUST BUY IT! But it worked out because I love this one SO much more!

Look at it! I'm in love!

I had to bring it right in and set it up where I want it!

The details are what got me - look at those little finials hanging down:

It will be awesome once I sand it down and re-paint it.

Janet and I had a fun time fitting it into my car. It was a TIGHT squeeze, I can tell you. We tried it through the back one way, then the other. Had it almost in, except one little corner would not cooperate. then we had to bring it through the side. I was skeptical. But knowing Janet probably has GREAT experience packing fabulous finds into vehicles I went with it. We had to kind of swing it in the side door starting at one end. Think of fitting a horseshoe through a mousehole! Nuts!

Of course, my excitement was so built up by the time I got home I had NO problem getting it out and into the house by myself! Any...hooooo. It is going to look FAB' once I get it all set up. Now I need to buy a fireplace insert to set in the wall. And I am sure I will have to build up behind the mantle. But the first and hardest step is done! Finding the perfect mantle to build the whole project around! Yay!
Stay tuned!

Black Doors and Burlap Pillows!

Wow! Is the sun ever coming out here again? I was waiting for some nicer days to take photos but CLEARLY that is not happening any time soon. So excuse the bad (even worse than usual) photos!

I showed you my black basement doors last post. I decided to go ahead and paint the front door as well. We had had the outside of it stripped and painted black in the Fall. We have a composite door that was stained to look like wood. It was gorgeous! For about 3 years... Then the fading started. And the peeling. And some more fading. You get the picture. So we stripped and re-stained. And one year later... the fading again.

Well, if you haven't figured it out yet I am LAYYYYY-ZEEE! There is no way I want a front door I need to upkeep on a YEARly basis! No way, no how!

Anyhoooo... Tangent. Sorry. Sore spot!

Here is the before of the front door:

And here is the after:

So, again, the black is just really making my other black blend into the house better. The rug has a black background and then the sconces are black as well. The dining room to the left has wallpaper that has a black background. And I have a ton of black furniture throughout the house as well as black trim in some rooms.

I could not take these arctic conditions any more and had to put my lemon wreath back up on the inside of the door too. I just need some promise of spring and color right now.

January to spring just drags on so here. Once the holidays are past I have no patience for the cold weather! I think I am going into hibernation mode.

Now I told you that I had gotten my new sewing machine. I busted it out of the box, set it up and immediately had to make something. I am the queen of immediate gratification. It really doesn't matter if I know what I am doing or not.

I had bought a couple of burlap coffee sacks at a barn sale for only $7 each - such a steal! And if you saw my slipcovered couch post you know I was hungry for some new pillows. Again. Since I am lazy. I basically just stuffed one of my old pillows down in the bag and sewed the sides. Ha! 

And then the finished pillow. Sitting with my favorite ruffle pillow. They look cute together, don't they?

And here is the back of it. An that is the existing side seam that I just left. For character. Or laziness - or whatever!

So I am pretty proud of this sewing experiment. Hopefully the seams don't burst open on me. Now I just need to replace those other two pillows on the outside and this will be the perfect place to hunker down until spring!

Basement Doors - Back in Black

I am finally, FINALLY, getting around to doing this. I really need to kick up my efforts on the Man Cave this year.
The kids are getting older now and they are really only down there for video gaming. We have a big ole supply of toys in a corner for when we have parties and all the younger kids come over. But the Hubs has been talking about a pool table possibly so I think that is my CUE (ha ha) to start making it a little more adult down there!

So there are a LOT of plans we are batting around. But this one was the easiest and after seeing
Thrifty Decor Chick's post HERE on getting hers done I decided to make that the project du jour.
Well, it will take MORE than one day but I have done 2 doors so far.

Before:

After:

Looks SO much better right? This is the bathroom door at the bottom of the stairs to the basement.
The black door really brings out the other black accents in the bathroom:

 This picture is taken through the mirror - so those marks on the door are not bad painting... Um... just a dirty mirror!

 And here is the door to the toy closet (soon to be craft closet! Shhh.. don't tell!)

I used Benjamin Moore Aura paint so it only took 2 coats straight over the builders painted white door.
The color is actually Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black. Since I already have that color in my kitchen and family room
I know I like it. What do you think? I love how it makes the white trim really pop.
AND it hides all the dirty door since no one here seems to be able to figure out what the KNOB is used for!